GILBERTSVILLE — The impressive collection of medals — gold, silver and bronze — award certificates, plaques and recognition mementoes cover every inch of the wall in the large rec room in the Feick home.

They have come from across the USA, Europe, China, Japan, South America, Germany, England, Canada, Finland, Australia and Switzerland, where Dr. Ray E. Feick of Gilbertsville, and former Pottstown School District superintendent, has earned them with his masterful weight, javelin, discus and hammer throwing over the last three decades.

Even though he turns 82 in December and has had knee replacement and triple bypass surgeries a couple of years ago, he has absolutely no intentions of slowing down. Feick competed in four different Masters tournaments across the country last month alone — at the National Masters Track and Field Championships in Olathe, Ks., where he took one gold, two silver and one bronze medal in his 80-84 age group ­— the other at the National Seniors, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he finished in the top eight in all of his events.

“I’m very competitive, everyone will tell you that,” Feick said, flexing his massive biceps. “We used to have weight loss competitions at the Pottstown School District and they said I’d cut my arm off to win it. I like competition.”

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It takes a lot of hard work to stay in shape for that high caliber competing. He loves that part of the challenge too.

Three to four days a week, Feick is out in his sprawling front yard, straight across from the Gilbertsville Golf Course, throwing those heavy weights for at least an hour and a half. That’s when he is not on the road to, or another, states, regional, national or overseas tournament. Or, when nothing real big is going on, a nearby one.

In a quick preview of those home workouts, he spins with one of the weights, attached to a chain, then lets it fly.

“On uneven days I lift weights,” he said, watching the weight land yards and yards away.

He could host his own tournament on those 5 1/2 acres that surround the Feick home, all neatly set up for throwing practices, including the discus and javelin.

When he takes a short rest he feeds pebbles to the catfish he stocks in his small pond.

* * *

At Birdsboro High School, Class of 1949, Feick played soccer, basketball and baseball. Drafted in 1952, during the Korean War, he kept playing basketball and baseball in the First Army in the New York area.

After his discharge, he attended Albright College with the assistance of the GI bill from 1955-58.

That’s where Feick changed athletically. “When I went to Albright out of service as a veteran, you had to take gym,” he recalled. “I could never believe, and still can’t, that you had to take phys ed coming out of the Army. Mr. (Gene) Shirk, who was the mayor of Reading, was the phys ed teacher at Albright, plus he was also at the time the track coach. He asked me, ‘Did you ever throw the shot put?’ I said, ‘No I didn’t’ He said, ‘would you try?’ I did and I varsitied three years on his track team, was their best javelin thrower and best in the shot put for three years. So that’s how I really got started.

“Then I didn’t do anything in track, other than coach, till 1981.”

His professional career and his family were his became his top priority.

But Feick couldn’t stay away from sports completely and took over as the Pottstown High school cross country head coach from 1958-63, with one year off to get his master’s degree in mathematics from Ohio University in 1961.

His Trojans cross-country team won 32 of 33 dual meets, three Ches-Mont League titles, two District 1 championships and placed sixth at states one year.

He also coached basketball and the field events alongside Trojans track and field head coach Heber Myers and coached track and field at Albright College for three years.

Then Feick moved away for a while, became an associate professor of mathematics at Moravian College from 1963-66, again also coaching cross country. He also attended Lehigh University from 1964-1969 and received his doctorate in October 1969.

And in 1966 he returned to Pottstown High School, this time as assistant district superintendent, was named the superintendent of the Pottstown School District in 1970. And his work started piling up.

“From ’66 until 1980, I was also out of sports officiating because I was a superintendent,” he said. “You put in 60, 65 hours a week in when you’re an administrator, at least I did. So I gave up officiating,”

Feick found stress relief running on weekends, became a racquetball playing fanatic and instead of having lunch, he would use that break to head down to the Ricketts Center for some serious weight lifting with the center’s then legendary Clapper White.

In 1981, a friend invited Feick to compete in a Masters meet at Muhlenberg High School.

“He said, ‘You ought to come down and try the javelin.’ And I got hooked on it,” he said.

He also instantly did great, not only in the javelin, but also the shot put. All that weight lifting with the great Clapper White was paying off.

And there it started all over again, with the hammer throw, discus, 16-pound and 35-pound weights eventually added to it.

* * *

Feick retired from his Pottstown superintendent post in 1991.

Asked if he loved being a superintendent, he said, “Very much so.

“I think I have a strength in working with people. You definitely work with parents and kids (as superintendent). I’m a people person and I really enjoyed it. I always try to tell to agree to disagree, but not make it personal. And it worked for me. It really did.”

But after his retirement Feick really revved up his track and field, competing endlessly to this day, countless times in the U.S.A. but also in China, South Africa, Norway, Germany, England, Canada, Finland, Australia, Switzerland and Japan, returning home with medals and trophies from everywhere.

He has participated in more than 400 track and field meets since that 1980s restart, competed in nearly every state in the USA, and more than a dozen foreign countries.

* * *

Feick and his wife Fay, also a Birdsboro High School graduate, have been married for 63 years, moved here in 1966, raised their two sons in that cozy home with the scenic landscape.

Feick may have taken some years off along the way, but it was always in his blood. Growing up with a house full of brothers, it became part of his life at a very young age.

Fay Feick, on the other hand, isn’t at all into that competing thing. But she does enjoy traveling all over the world with him, though she does not come along for every competition.

Did her husband ever try to get her into competing, she was asked.

“Kind of,” Fay Feick said. “That’s how we get along, because I don’t do everything he says. All those years married, you learn to understand each other.”

Doesn’t she get tired of him always out there in the yard, throwing weights around?

“He doesn’t throw me around. That’s all that counts,” she said with a smile.

She does love to come along and encourage him, and shares the pride in all those medals, awards and trophies he has won.

***

“These are Switzerland,” Feick said, starting the tour through the rec room. “My first medals from Africa over here. I threw in China and they didn’t give medals, they gave this small fan. Barbados medals are here, the ones from Mexico all over here.”

“This wall all Eastern Regionals, which is nine states. Top is the national medals. Then a conglomerate of patches for first place.”

What medal meant most to him, he was asked.

“That’s tough to say. Well, my first medal from Africa,” he said. “I got third in the world in the javelin in South Africa and it was my first world medal. And the experience of being in South Africa was something. They’re killing 27 a day, the policemen carried 30 caliber machine guns. I never realized the dangers over there.”

“And two medals, well, not actually medals I‘m really pretty proud off. As I said, they don’t give medals in China. But these are called Precious Stones from a mountain in China— that’s from 1993,” he said, opening a box with five small, shining stones of different colors and some small writing inside the box.

“They ran a really good meet over there in Japan, Then 26 of us left Japan after the World Games and went into China.”

“And here is a really unique medal from Ireland. It has the four provinces in Ireland listed on it. I had two first places there in 1999.”

But when asked which of all those accomplishments meant the most to him, it wasn’t a medal, or a box of precious stones or fans from China.

“Being inducted into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame (2011) was my most rewarding experience,” Feick said, without even thinking about it. “In my Class was Tommy Lasorda, Dick Vermeil and Horace Ashenfelter, the Olympian, (steeplechase, 1952). I just was on cloud nine. I’m really happy with that.”

Feick was also previously inducted into the Tri-County Hall of Fame (1989), the Albright Athletics Hall of Fame (1998) and USA Track & Field Masters Hall Fame (2009), making it a total of four.

But that Pennsylvania Hall of Fame was even more meaningful since it came after his triple bypass surgery.

***

His right knee gave out some years ago. Feick had it replaced and came right back.

“I have 37 stitches here and there’s two titanium plates in here,” he said, pointing to his right knee. So they replaced my knee. And, of course, I had triple bypass in 2011.”

Didn’t the doctors tell him he had to stop after that triple bypass?

“No,” he said. “I just took three months off, didn’t do anything other than a little bit of lifting, which he said I could do. But I stayed away from throwing for at least three months. I probably went back a little too soon. My wife says I did anyway.”

“And you’ll notice, when you look at all my results, in 2011, I didn’t do a lot that year. It was in March (bypass) and I ended up going down to Houston in July. So I had about three months before I started competition.”

And got right back to adding to his wins and medals.

* * *

He has captured a total of 12 World Games titles, 18 World Games medals, 12 of those gold; 33 gold, 14 silver, eight bronze WMAN (World Masters Association) American/Caribian medals; 13 WMA (World Masters Association) medals, eight being gold, three silver and two bronze; 17 National Masters Championships and seven American records.

He additionally served as a USATF Masters Level official in South African, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Penn Relays, and at more than a dozen colleges and universities high-profile meets, along with serving as a PIAA official in a number of sports for decades. And, of course, that includes every year at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships in the throwing events.

“I officiated 37 meets from January to May this year,” he said. “I do colleges, high schools, some masters meets. And I’m head fields judge fort the Penn Relays in the shot put. I’ve been officiating at the Penn Relays for 20 years.”

* * *

These past four weeks have really been busy ones for him. And even he thinks he crammed a bit too much into them, as he was getting ready to head for yet another one the next morning.

“I had Rochester the first week. Then I had Kansas. Then I had Cleveland,” he said. “And now I have Illinois. That’s almost too much this month.”

He flew to Kansas, drove to Cleveland, drove to Rochester and Illinois. Often he drives with one or two of his master throwing buddies. That helps. Still, that’s a lot of travel at 82. And with a replaced knee and triple bypass surgery.

He might cut back a bit — maybe.

As for being tired of competing — never.

“The one thing about Masters, you meet so many great people,” he said. “Especially throwers. It’s really a great group.”

Fay went with me to most meets and we made a vacation out of it. I went to Leon, Mexico, we traveled around there. I took her to England, Scotland. Australia. Not South Africa. She went with me to Switzerland,”

“I like to travel. I don’t drink a lot, I don’t smoke, so I use my money when I travel like that.”

Most of all, though, he likes to compete.

“There’s a Masters Newsletter that comes out monthly that advertises all your masters meets, regional meets, and they put your rankings in there,” he said. “This last issue I was third in the super weight in the nation in 80-84 age group, sixth in the regular weight, and in the shot put, (I was) in the Top 10 somewhere.”

Not in his wildest dreams could Feick have ever imagined that back in his days at Birdsboro High.